From the past, the US veterans have silently suffered psychological problems due to continuous exposure to life-threatening situation throughout their career and their suffering is worsened by their attitude towards receiving medical help. Posttraumatic stress disorder is a mental disorder that results from exposure to traumatizing events. Exposing an individual to an unexpected, life-threatening, or scary situation, the individual develops persistent mental and emotional stress ( Krippner et al., 2012) . Which is Characterized by changes in sleeping patterns, lack of appetite, avoidance behavior, the people feel sorry for themselves, low self-esteem, poor self-concept, and problems remembering important features regarding the traumatizing event. It is important to note that people experience fear and that is absolutory normal but it becomes a matter of concern when the fear starts interfering with the person's daily activities ( Krippner et al., 2012) . The U.S. veterans with long experience in Afghanistan and Iraq Wars has in the past recorded high risks of suffering from medical and mental health problems particularly posttraumatic stress disorder and brain injury which adversely affect the veterans families. Below is article appraisal of an article that focused on the effects of veterans posttraumatic stress disorder on their families especially wives.
Protection of Human Participants
The case study involved twelve Iranian veterans' wives whose ages ranged from 37 to 51 years and a mean age of 43.3. The participants were neither high school juniors, homemakers, nor students waiting to join university and importantly they all Persian speakers (Nir et al., 2013). One of the benefits that the participants enjoyed is the fact that they enjoyed privacy in their contribution as it was confidential, and also their identity remained anonymous. Importantly the women had a chance to learn from each other as the study involved group discussions. Lastly, the participating women had an advantage because they had a common language, hence, achieving effective communication. One of the risks that the participants would face is the identification of their identities due to the recording, whereby a person can quickly identify the voice of the member (Nir et al., 2013).
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The participants had a fully understood the topic of discussion because the author indicates that they chose those women who were familiar with the topic. Additionally, oral and written means were used to invite the participants. The invitation was detailed and informed the participant of the theme of discussion as well as assuring them of information confidentiality as well as a hidden identity (Nir et al., 2013). Participants also were informed that their participation would be recorded.
The participation was also voluntary, and the participants had the choice of either taking part or refusing to be part of the study. Also, the participants were at liberty to either continue or withdrawal from the case study without any penalties (Nir et al., 2013).The case study was approved by the concerned institutions which included the Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences and t Janbazan Medical and Engineering Research Center (Nir et al., 2013).
Data Collection
Data collection involves the techniques and procedures used in gathering information. A dependent variable is something that depends on and is influenced by other factors. On the other hand, an independent variable is variables that stand on their own and are not changed by other factors. In this case, the independent variable is the posttraumatic disorder, and this is because it is not changed by other factors being measured in the case study. On the other hand, dependent variables in the study are the veterans family reactions such as stigmatization, moral support, dual role play, and negative emotions, and this is because they are affected by the condition of veteran posttraumatic stress disorder.
In the qualitative study, data was collected through focused group discussions which were audio recorded. During the open discussions, the participants were engaged in oral and open questions. The focused group discussion with open questions was used to probe them to easily and freely talk about their experiences with their veteran husbands.
The focused group discussion took three seasons in which every season took ninety minutes, and therefore, the total time for data collection was four hours and a half (Nir et al., 2013). In this case, in every session, each participant had seven and a half minutes of taking part in the discussion. At the end of the study each member had participated in three discussion sessions, hence, a total of twenty-two minutes and ahalf minutes.
Data Management and Analysis
Data collected through audio recording was transcribed word by word and then coded. The information coded was then analyzed concurrently to ensure that the extracted information is similar to one collected. After successful coding, significant phrases, sentences and words are used to class information as either major or minor (Nir et al., 2013). To analyze the data gathered the author indicates that conventional qualitative data analysis technique was employed.
In order to be accurate, the author suggests that the process of transcribing was carried out word by word and line after line and the extracted words were counterchecked from the notes taken during data collection process (Nir et al., 2013).
The author indicates that to ensure the credibility of information and minimal biasedness, Guba, and Lincoln strategies were applied which involves credibility, dependency, confirming information with each other, and transformability of information (Nir et al., 2013).
Findings
The qualitative study found out that veteran's post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) had negative effects on the family members especially the wives (Nir et al., 2013). Importantly, the findings indicate that PTSD had a significant impact on family members’ emotional effects. The findings are consistent with other findings regarding veteran's psychological effects to their family well –being, hence, they are valid, and one has confidence in them.
Apparently, the researcher was faced by one limitation during the case study which is the fact that only one group of the participants was considered (Nir et al., 2013), hence, lacking a broad range of participants to compare information. The findings are relevant to the health practitioners because the problem requires both health and civic education approach; in this case, the nurses understand the effects of the veteran's condition to the family members. The researcher recommends further studies on how children are affected by posttraumatic stress disorder of family members and especially a veteran.
It is evidence from the discussion above that posttraumatic stress disorder has significant effects on the veterans as well as their families especially their wives. It is proof that veterans suffering from PTSD have a strained relationship with their wives resulting from frequent anger as well as inappropriate modes of solving family problems. Additionally, the families with a PTSD veteran have recorded high emotional disorders. For example, a wife to a veteran suffering from PTSD is likely to feel pity and oppressed which poses a threat to her health as she may suffer stress and depression (Nir et al., 2013). Finally, the study findings recommend medical support for the victims as well as education to the society on how to deal with PTSD patients.
References
Krippner, S., Pitchford, D. B., & Davies, J. (2012). Post-traumatic stress disorder . Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood.
Nir, M. S., Ebadi, A., Khoshknab, M. F., & Tavallaie, A. (2013). Experiences of Wives of Veterans Suffering from Combat-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Qualitative Content Analysis. International Journal of Community Based Nursing and Midwifery , 1 (3), 147-155.
